(Cross-posted on the Houston Chowhounds board because I know a fair amount of people picked up those Restaurant.com gift certificates.)

On Saturday night my husband and I finally decided to give Brisa a try. They have plastered more menus on our car windshield than we can count and Restaurant.com had a listing for them on their site. Taking advantage of the opportunity, we purchased a $25.00 gift certificate to the restaurant at a discount.

We arrived at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday night. There were seven tables occupied out of about 25 (not counting bar seating, where I swear I saw a tumbleweed roll through), mostly two tops. You could see into the kitchen beyond some glass and everyone was standing around back there, unoccupied. In short, the restaurant was not busy at all.

When we arrived, the hostess passed the menu onto our server, and we were instructed to sit anywhere we wanted. We sat ourselves and wanting to avoid any problems when presented the bill, I asked if we could use the Restaurant.com gift certificate towards alcoholic drinks. Our server, I believe his name was Ronny, said he would check with his manager. He returned a few moments later saying “I have some bad news. The manager said we don’t take these.” I asked him to bring the manager over, wondering why the manager didn’t advise us of this himself. Daniel arrived at our table and reiterated that he could not accept the gift certificate. I asked why and he launched into a story that changed a few times. He repeated several times that it was out of his hands and that the owners were having problems with Restaurant.com. He said that they “cancelled their agreement with Restaurant.com six months ago” which I found hard to believe since the restaurant has only been open since May (that would be four months for anyone counting). Then towards the end of the conversation he said that they had been having problems with Restaurant.com for ‘a while now’ and then ‘a month’ popped up somewhere in there too. He also seemed to imply that we bought the certificate a while ago and were now just trying to honor it. I drew his attention to the date printed on the certificate and also told him that they were about to get inundated with these certificates due to the big sale Restaurant.com had on them.

He asked us if there was anything he could do to which my husband, irritated after listening to an ever changing story, retorted that he could honor the gift certificate we bought just last week. Daniel said he could offer us a free appetizer or dessert and at that point I thanked him, but said politely that we would leave. It had the feeling of a bait and switch operation, especially since Daniel’s story kept changing the longer we talked to him. I’m sure it truly was out of his hands, but the whole thing just seemed shady. I didn’t want to patronize a place where I felt that we were being taken advantage of or not being told the whole truth, even if it was ‘the public’s version’ of the whole truth.

At that point Daniel said he would honor the gift certificate and he apologized profusely for all the problems. He said he would still give us an appetizer or dessert for free. We thanked him and set about to ordering our meal.

We asked our server for chips and salsa (to which he replied: ‘we only bring it out if you ask, and you just asked… so… I’ll bring it out’ Uh, thanks!)

For an appetizer we got the cheese ‘tortilla’ stuffed with beef. Husband enjoyed this but I found the cheese wrapping kind of tough. The skirt/flank steak was tender and well seasoned though. The guacamole perched on top of lettuce was tasty too.

For an entree I got the chile relleno and Husband got the Gulf red snapper fillet, recommended by our server.

(Chile picture did not turn out)

Fish:

Husband enjoyed his fish and said the sauce on top of it was quite good. However, the beef in the poblano chile was terrible. It tasted old and was loaded with lard (I think?) that tasted almost rancid. The upside was that all the sauces/salsas were delicious, especially their tomatillo sauce and what I think was an ancho sauce on my plate– the server didn’t know, said he thought it was a chipotle sauce but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t. Beans and rice were unremarkable.

When the bill came, Daniel came back out with a business card and explained that he couldn’t offer us our free appetizer because that would reduce the total bill below $50, which is what we had to spend in order to use the certificate. He presented the business card to us with a handwritten note that our next app/dessert would be comped for us when we returned. We thanked him and didn’t complain because that was what the fine print said on the coupon, but goodness. You’d think he would try to focus more on making our visit NOW good than our next one…?

Given the hassle it was to use our certificate, the attitude of the manager, and the hit or miss entrees, we won’t be returning any time soon. Our server was spot on and wonderful, but I need more than a nice server to get me back to a restaurant. The same goes for chips and salsa. I think the only reason our gift certificate was even honored was because it was a graveyard there that night. Better to have $25 come through the door (plus tip) than nothing at all I guess. Too bad it won’t be coming back.

On August 14, 2009 the Houston Chowhounds got porked. Twelve chefs from the Houston area came together to find out who could take a slab of pork belly and transform it into further greatness.

The challenge for Chowhounds (besides eating all that pork) was to turn out the best pot of beans.

The event was held at Catalan and the crowds came out.

Some dressed to turn a head, others wearing wife beaters that said ‘I [heart] pork belly.’

All types make for a happy eventespecially when the food is outstanding.

The top three choices from the judges for pork belly:Cody Vasek of Voice with pork four waysRandy Evans of Brennan’s with a pork tortaand Manubu Horiuchi and Jean-Phillipe Gaston of Kata Robata with pork three ways.

See, us Chowhounds know how to have fun. Four ways and three ways are what its all about.

On the beans sideKaren Rittinger took home first place for Fabada Asturiada.

At first I thought it was silly‘of course I would just eat leftovers’and then I got to thinkingand in reality I usually don’t eat leftovers when I eat alone.

My favorite meal for one is chicken and rice.Not chicken and rice with garlic, spices, and a saladbut a chicken breast roasted with seasoned salt and freshly cracked pepperwith some chicken broth added in during the last half of roastingthen when it’s readythe chicken gets shredded and unceremoniously dumped over steaming white rice with the broth.

That’s my meal for just me.

I find myself eating cereal a lot tooor just Triscuits and cheese.

This week I’ve had cereal two days in a row.The first time it was because Hub was on call and I didn’t feel like cookingand the second time was because I just used up all my energy trying to work out an argument.

I felt that if I cooked anything it might end up with only the hottest spices in the housetopped off with a splash of HATRED and ANGER.

So cornflakes and whole milk it was.It seemed safer that way.

Last night I did start making watermelon sorbet thoughand will finish it tonight.

I can’t promise there won’t be cayenne in itbut it actually might be better that way.

I’ve done some heavy duty cooking this weekand this weekend will be much of the same.

I made macarons for the first time last weekthanks to a recipe from this guy.

They turned out beautifullyand they are slated to be made this weekend againbecause Hub and I ate every last one of them the same day they were made.

Playing around with fillings will be the project this time aroundI have a few Rose Levy Beranbaum recipes lined upNutella in the pantryand home-made jam in the fridge.

The jam was a gift from a coworkerbecause, sadly, I have not yet marched into preserving territory.I do have a book on itbut the fear of inadvertently poisoning myself and Hub has not yet dissipated so fun and games with with berries, cucumbers, tomatoes, chiles…(you get the picture)will have to wait.

Also on the list for this weekend is finding what to do with the rest of the watermelon I have.

Our CSA delivered it to us right before July 4thand half of it went into the sorbet.

The other half is sitting in my fridgelaughing at me.

It’s been quite meloney at our house lately.

We got cantaloupe in our CSA delivery this week and I think that is going to go with some cured ham of some sortsince I’ve actually never paired it with that.

My favorite way to eat it is with super cold cottage cheese(why yes, that has been an alone meal)but I’m trying to branch out here.

I might as well get through the tried and true combosthat way when I want to get WILD AND CRAZYI’ll have some sort of foundation on which to build.

That has been my mission lately:to try out the classics.

I feel like I read about them so muchand see how people play with thembut when I get to thinking about itI realize how much I haven’t triedand that’s simply unacceptable.

Lately my weekends have turned into project-cooking-timeand the projects recently have been classic recipes and pairings.

Seeing as that has resulted in things like macarons, stuffed squash blossoms, and progressively better stockI think I shall continue the trend.

Sunday: Prime New York Strip Steak with Creamed Spinach and Potato Gratin Monday: Braised Oxtails over PolentaTuesday: Roast Chicken with Mashed Carrots, Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Garden Salads (sometimes I like to do a big meal in the middle of the week for no reason)Wednesday: Chicken Salad Croissant Sandwiches with pickles and potato chips (easy peasy)Thursday: Friend’s birthday dinner!Friday: Veg. leftoversSaturday: Lentil Soup with Cornbread

Still no idea what the Easter meal is looking like.

Husband will be on call at the hospital all night on Saturdayso he will be a useless lump sleeping in bed on Easter Sunday.

Between two jobs, two blogs, two dogs, and one husband, I just don’t get around here enough.

I’ve started Twitteringalong with the rest of the worldand have been trying to document what I make for dinner ever day.

I would do lunch toobut taking a picture of a Lean Cuisine every day would be a little depressing.

So insteadI take bad iPhone pictures of my dinnernone of which want to post to my entryso I’m going to stop trying.

Last night dinner involved white ricesomething I try to eat in moderationbut I’m ashamed to admit that dinner tonight also involved white rice.

BUT there are no photographs, not even on Twitterso we can all pretend like it never happened.

It was red beans and rice with tomatoes and balsamic vinegar if you’re wondering.Complete white trash cookingbut delicious.

Brown up some 80/20 ground chuckseason with garlic and good ol’ Lawry’s seasoned saltdump in a can of red beans with a little bit of waterlet reduce for a few minutesand spoon over white rice.

Top with sliced tomatoes and balsamic vinegar and then go sit out on your front lawn with a wife beater on.

Tasty as it isI think it could be better.

I was thinking about the tomatoes todayand how they are my favorite part of the dish.Right nowtomatoes obviously are not at their peakbut perhaps I could elevate this dish to a slightly higher socioeconomic status by making a tomato confit and a reducing the balsamic vinegar down to a glaze.

Then maybe replace the ground beef with braised beef (oxtails, perhaps? I like this dish a little bit on the fattier side since it tastes like sawdust if a low fat cut of meat is used) and use long simmered red beans instead of my salted friends out of a can.

Ideas, ideas.I probably will just stick to my regular recipe until I finally get so ashamed of it I’m forced into making something better.This probably won’t happen for a while.

I already have a go-to pizza recipeso I was not too thrilled about thisespecially since I was hoping for a sweet challengebut I gave it a go.

Maybe my go wasn’t good enoughbecause while everyone else who made this recipe raved about itI was not impressed.

I’m pretty sure I have only myself to blameand I’m sure I will try this recipe againbecause I do like thin crust pizza.

Mine was just TOO thinand didn’t crisp up in the middle.

I got busy baking before I started taking picturesso no mise en place for you.

Also it was dark outsideand the lighting in my tiny kitchen is pretty badso the pictures are what they are.
SIGH.

On with the show.

Dough in the mixer:

Properly pulled away from the sidesand still attached to the bottomper the instructions:

Blob ready for splitting:

Asexual reproduction, RIGHT ON MY COUNTERTOP:

I put them in the fridge for an overnight riseand the next day Husband took them out and flattened two for me for dinner that night(maybe I can blame the less than impressive pizza’s on his hand in the whole thing…)

The rested there for two hoursand then it was time to stretch them out.We were supposed to toss thembut that was not happening with this dough.

Instead I carefully stretched itand no matter how hard I triedit still had holes

I pinched them shutand no one was the wiserexcept for all you people on the internet now.

We’re old fashioned here in our householdso it was just reg’lar pepperoni pizzas

I shredded ball mozzarella on top of the saucefor which I used a recipe from Cook’s Illustrated.

(Note to self: try to find pepperoni without so much dye in it. Probably not good for the health to eat this much red dye.)

I previously cranked up my oven to 550F(or so I THOUGHT!)and my pizza stone had been in there for at least half an hour too.

After about 8 minutes in the ovenTHIS emerged

The outer crust was greatit was just too thin in the middlewith no crunch.

I think next time I will just have to make them thicker in the middle.

Pizza No. 2 came out the same way as the firstso for kicks I threw my oven thermometer in the oven to see if it was really reaching 550F.

The answer was HELL NO.It was only about 450Fso this probably did not help my uncripsy pizza.

The moisture content from the ball mozzarella probably didn’t help either.

AgainI think the unsuccess of these pizzas rests entirely on my shouldersand not on the recipe itself.

I’ll be revisiting it againwith a lower moisture content cheesethicker crustsand aiming for a much hotter oven temperature.

Goodness knows the recipe made four other balls of pizzaso I’ve got enough practice dough to last me a while.

Friday, September 12th found our household in a mostly normal state. A few things were out of the ordinary: I had off from work and my husband had no class or rotations to attend.

We also had the radio on in our house, and for good reason. Dire hurricane warnings were being blasted from every device capable of communication in Houston and every store in a 20 mile radius was out of ice. We know because we looked. Unlike the rest of the city of Houston, we weren’t looking for ice for our food but for our fish tank.

We have a 150 gallon salt-water fish tank and if there is no power in the house that means the chiller for the fish tank doesn’t work. Without a chiller to keep the water at a certain temperature for the fish, we could end up with 150 gallons of tropical fish soup.

I’m all about bulk cooking but that’s not usually what I have in mind.

Husband and I were not too concerned about the whole thing; we laughed at the non-event for Houston that was Rita and our lawn got a nice sprinkle from Gustav. We figured we would be without power for a few hours and then life would go on.

Since we couldn’t find ice, we filled up plastic baggies with water and put them in our outside freezer to freeze.

We crowded our patio furniture and decorations into the living room and we settled in for the storm.

With not much to do and cookbooks in my reading stack , I decided to cook a few things from our freezer lest we lose power.

I started making pork for tortas ahogadas.

Since the preparation for that dish is lengthy, my dinner that night was not any delicious pork. Instead, I grabbed something out of the freezer to eat.

That’s right, I ate a Hot Pocket.

I was just doing my part to continue emptying the freezer. Hot Pocket by Hot Pocket.

The power went out at 11:30 pm after the pork finished cooking. I still could have kept trucking with my gas stove, though.

Our house was pretty dark. See Exhibit A:

I moved the pot o’pork to the freezer for safekeeping and was happy I did not start making birote (the bread) for the tortas ahogadas. My stove is gas powered, however my oven is not.

The next morning we surveyed the damage to our house. It was not much; we lost a little tree in the back yard which almost took out the AC unit, but other than that we were still in shipshape.

Although we did not suffer any structural damage, we did not get power back for 6 days and lost almost all of our perishable food.

SIX. DAYS. Those little baggies in the freezer were sure laughing at us.

For 5 days we stayed with friends who got their power back within 24 hours. We transported as much of our frozen food over to their house as we could. Even with the food relocation, we had over $250 worth of steak in our freezer which partially thawed and was the cause for much sadness.

We did managed to save a lot of chicken, and the tasty pork was reassigned to nachos one night and carnitas another night.

I was sad that I didn’t get to finish making tortas but the grocery stores were circus-like, so I made do.

My refrigerator and freezer and still not fully stocked yet and I’ve managed to run out of non-perishables since I brought most of them over to our friends’ house.

Usually I do my fun baking and slow cooking on the weekends, along with all grocery shopping for the week, but Mr. Ike has thrown a wrench into things along with the fact that my weekends are pretty busy now.

I managed to land a part-time job at a restaurant here in Houston and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

The reviews on it are wonderful and the chefs intimidatingly creative and good. I feel like getting all Julie Andrews on you and singing ‘I must have done something gooooooood!’

It’s hard work. I worked in retail for a long time so I can deal with the standing up for long periods, but it’s keeping all of the orders straight which makes me a bit cross-eyed.

I get orders called to me without being able to see a ticket so I better be able to keep 7 orders of salads or desserts in order without missing one. It’s difficult but I enjoy it and I’m learning alot.

I’m proud that I’m in there and I already have a lot of food and technique knowledge I just need to work on my plating and balancing flavors.

I’m a slave to recipes something I’m trying to come away from but one thing at a time right?

For now I’ll worry about restocking my larders and not forgetting anyone’s orders on the weekends.